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Ted Bundy 50 years later: How investigators took down infamous serial killer who terrorized country for years
Sunday marks 50 years since Ted Bundy, one of America’s most infamous serial killers, abducted two young women on the same day from the same crowded Washington state beach.
Although it was not the first time Bundy struck twice in one day, snatching the two women in a four-hour timeframe was among the most brazen acts of his years-long cross-country crime spree.
Although Bundy confessed to 28 murders, some estimate that he was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of women between 1974 and 1978.
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Ted Bundy, pictured during his 1979 murder trial at the Miami-Dade County Metro Justice Building, killed at least 28 women and girls between 1974 and 1978. (Getty Images)
Janice Ann Ott, 23, and Denise Marie Naslund, 19, both disappeared from Lake Sammamish State Park, about 15 miles from Seattle, on July 14, 1974.
Bundy killed both women that day, The Seattle Times reported, but their bodies weren’t discovered for another two months.
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Bundy approached various women at the park, asking them to help him unhook his boat from his tan Volkswagen bug. Four female witnesses would later describe an attractive man wearing a white tennis outfit with his left arm in a sling who spoke in a slight, possibly Canadian accent and was overheard introducing himself as “Ted.”
Three of the women refused; a fourth accompanied Bundy to his car, then ran after seeing that there was no sailboat.
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Denise Naslund, right, was abducted by Ted Bundy four hours after Janice Ott, left, on July 17, 1974. Skeletal remains of both women were found about two miles away on Sept. 6 of that year. (Kings County Sheriff’s Department)
Ott, a juvenile caseworker at the nearby King County Juvenile Court, was seen by three witnesses leaving the park’s beach with the man. Before she left her home on her yellow bicycle that day, Ott put a note on her door to tell her roommate that she was going sunbathing, drawing a doodle of the sun on her note, according to Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park. Her husband, James, was in California attending medical school.
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Naslund, who was studying to become a computer programmer, never returned from the restroom on a picnic with her boyfriend and another couple. Her mother would tell The Seattle Times that Naslund had the sort of helpful nature that could place her in danger.
King County police distributed a composite sketch based on descriptions of the man and his car, which was printed in area newspapers and broadcast on local television stations.
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Ott and Naslund were lured off the crowded beach at Lake Sammamish State Park by Bundy, who wore a sling on his arm and claimed he needed help unhooking his sailboat from the trailer hitch of his vehicle. The park is pictured in 2020. (Chona Kasinger/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Bundy’s girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer, his friend Ann Rule and one of Bundy’s psychology professors from the University of Washington all recognized the composite and contacted police, according to King County Detective Robert Keppel’s book, “The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer.” But at the time, Rule wrote in her own book, detectives thought it was unlikely that the clean-cut law student was their suspect.
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Based on the description of the vehicle and the suspect, Keppel pored over thousands of automobile registration documents, The Seattle Times reported. Bundy was on the final list of potential suspects.
On Sept. 6 of that year, grouse hunters found skeletal remains near a service road in Issaquah, about two miles away – dental records showed that most of them belonged to Ott and Naslund, The Bulletin reported at the time.
Bundy was put to death on Jan. 24, 1989, at Florida State Prison. (Bettmann via Getty Images)
Bundy later identified an extra femur and vertebrae found at that scene as those of Georgann Hawkins, an 18-year-old University of Washington student who went missing in the early hours of June 11 of that year while walking from her boyfriend’s dormitory to her own, Keppel wrote.
Bundy later told journalist Stephen Michaud and FBI agent William Hagmaier that Ott was still alive when he kidnapped Naslund, and that he forced one woman to watch while he assaulted, then murdered the other. He later recanted that claim, along with others, in an interview on the night of his execution in 1989.
Before his capture, Bundy struck twice in one day once more on Nov. 8, 1974, first posing as a police officer and luring 18-year-old Carol DaRonch to his tan Volkswagen Beetle from a mall in Bountiful, Utah.
Ted Bundy’s image on a television screen on the lawn of the Florida State Prison. (Getty Images)
Bundy attempted to snap handcuffs onto the teen, but DaRonch was able to escape. A key that fit the lock to those cuffs was found in a high school parking lot where 17-year-old Debra Kent was last seen leaving a high school play to pick up her younger brother.
In 2015, a patella bone found in 1989 at the site where Bundy told investigators he’d left Kent’s body was positively identified as the teen, Wired reported. After 40 years, her family finally got closure and a death certificate.
On Aug. 18, 1975, Highway Patrol Sgt. Bob Hayward stopped Bundy’s tan Volkswagen, which was lingering outside a home in Granger, Utah.
After finding a ski mask, a crowbar, an ice pick and handcuffs in the car, the officer placed Bundy under arrest – but he was soon released.
In October of that year, DaRonch and two other women pointed Bundy out in a police lineup, leading to his arrest on attempted kidnapping charges, according to the Los Angeles Times. He was convicted of aggravated kidnapping in March 1976, The Deseret News reported at the time.
In October of the next year, while Bundy was serving that prison sentence, investigators were able to link Bundy to the January 1975 disappearance of Caryn Eileen Campbell with the discovery of her hair in his Volkswagen, The New York Times reported.
Campbell, a 23-year-old registered nurse, was last seen walking down a well-lit hallway between the elevator and her room at a Colorado hotel in January of that year; her nude body was found a month later next to a dirt road just outside the resort.
After he was charged with first-degree murder in Campbell’s death, Bundy infamously escaped a law library at Aspen’s Pitkin County Courthouse in June 1977, leading police on a six-day manhunt before his capture, ABC reported. He would escape a second time after losing enough weight to slip through a ceiling duct in his Colorado prison cell.
Before he was captured for good, Bundy killed two Florida State University sorority sisters and injured three more in January 1978, then killed 12-year-old Kimberly Leach.
Bundy was apprehended in February 1978, and his nationally televised trial began in June 1979. He was convicted in the deaths of the Florida State students on July 24, 1979, then for Leach’s death in January 1980.
Bundy was put to death on Jan. 24, 1989 at Florida State Prison – the declaration of the killer’s death at 7:16 a.m. drew cheers from the estimated 200 people in attendance, the Times reported.
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No matter how the playoffs go for the Seatte Seahawks, general manager John Schneider and his team are looking at a very busy offseason ahead.
In addition to their usual preparations for the 2026 NFL draft, Seattle has a ton of important players who are about to become unrestricted free agents. That list includes special teams superstar Rashid Shaheed, running back Ken Walker and defensive standouts Boye Mafe, Riq Woolen and Coby Bryant.
It’s going to be really difficult to keep that entire group together, even with a lot of cap space projected to be open in 2026. The Seahawks may have to create room with some salary cap casualties after the season is over.
On that note, Over the Cap has listed a pair of Seattle players as potential cap casualties. Let’s review both of them.
OLB Uchenna Nwosu
Coming in at No. 46 on OTC’s list is veteran edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu, who has one year remaining on his contract with a cap hit just over $20 million. Nwosu has been valuable when he’s on the field but he’s also missed a ton of time due to injuries and it will be difficult to justify his cap hit with so many other players to pay.
Seattle can save a little over $11.5 million if they cut Nwosu, before June 1 or after. However, they would also take on a dead money hit north of $8.5 million, which takes a lot of the flavor out of those cap savings.
In 45 games with the Seahawks, Nwosu has tallied 19.5 sacks, 52 QB hits, 24 tackles for a loss, five forced fumbles and eight pass breakups.
That’s a lot of good production across the board as an all-around defender, but he’ll turn 30 years old before next season is over and there are a lot of mouths to feed for Mike Macdonald’s defense.
Over the Cap projects there’s a 58.5% chance that the Seahawks will wind up cutting him. Our best guess is that will be the case, especially if they want to pursue someone like Maxx Crosby on the trade market.
K Jason Myers
The only other Seahawks player who made the list (at No. 77) was placekicker Jason Myers, where the team has an interesting choice to make.
Myers has been around since the 2019 season and he’s come through for them more often than not. In 117 games he’s converted 200 of 232 field goal attempts, coming out to 86.2%. On extra point attempts he’s gone 292/307 for 95.1%.
Those are very solid numbers for an NFL kicker, and when you have a solid option at this position you don’t mess with it.
Another factor working in Myers’ favor is that Seattle really can’t save all that much money by cutting him. According to OTC’s numbers the Seahawks would create $5.1 million in cap room by cutting him, with a dead money hit of $1,875,000.
Five million might get Seattle a decent backup for their interior offensive line, or another contributor to Mike Macdonald’s defense. It’s not enough to really move the needle for this roster, though.
OTC gives it a 52.5% chance that Myers will get cut, but we don’t see that happening. If they want to lower his cap hit, the Seahawks can create a little over $3 million for 2026 with an extension. That’s the only move they should be looking to make at this spot.
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Rapper Boosie Badazz was sentenced Friday to credit for time served in the case stemming from his 2023 arrest in San Diego for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The 43-year-old, whose real name is Torence Ivy Hatch Jr., was arrested in Chollas View after police found two guns inside a vehicle in which he was riding.
Hatch was in town to shoot a music video and perform at a Gaslamp Quarter nightclub.
In a social media video clip recorded during the video shoot, Hatch was spotted with a gun in his waistband. Police then used a helicopter to track down his vehicle, after which officers conducted a traffic stop and discovered the firearms.
He pleaded guilty to a federal gun possession count last year. As part of his sentence, Hatch will also serve 300 hours of community service.
Defense attorney Meghan Blanco said in a statement released after Friday’s hearing, “The resolution brings a sense of relief, allowing him to finally put this chapter behind him. He can now focus on continuing his music career, dedicating time to his family, and being a positive and inspiring presence for his children and the wider community.”
Federal prosecutors sought a two-year prison sentence, arguing in court papers that custody was warranted due to Hatch’s “insistence on carrying a weapon despite his status as a convicted felon” and allegations that he threatened his security detail shortly after his arrest.
Blanco, in her sentencing memorandum, denied any such threats occurred, noting that the statements are not included in any police reports stemming from the arrest and that no recorded evidence of the threats exist.
The defense attorney wrote that Hatch’s gun was never fired, brandished or used to threaten anyone. She also said there have been no allegations that the weapons were intended for any other offense and that Hatch’s last criminal case had occurred around 10 years prior.
“The case represents an isolated lapse in judgment, not a pattern of ongoing criminal conduct,” Blanco wrote.
Hatch was initially charged by the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. His defense attorneys have stated that Hatch intended to plead guilty at the time and was expected to be sentenced to probation, but the state’s case was dismissed before that plea deal could be reached and federal prosecutors took up the case.
U.S. District Judge Cathy Bencivengo, who sentenced Hatch on Friday, previously dismissed the case against him following a 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that said it was unconstitutional to prohibit convicted felons who served sentences for nonviolent drug offenses from possessing firearms.
But a larger panel of the 9th Circuit overturned its earlier ruling and San Diego federal prosecutors re-filed the charges against Hatch.
Hatch was previously convicted in Louisiana of marijuana possession. He also was indicted in an alleged murder-for-hire plot, but was acquitted by a Baton Rouge jury in 2012.
Two small avalanches released on a slide path of Mount Juneau, above the Behrends neighborhood, as Ezra Strong was on a walk this morning in the pouring rain.
The city issued an evacuation advisory about an hour earlier for Juneau residents in all known slide paths downtown and along Thane Road. Strong and his wife live on Gruening Avenue with their dog. He said he’s not heeding the advisory.
“I think in part because we’re a little bit protected by a rock wall and some other things behind us, in part because we have seen slides come down before on the main slide path that didn’t even get close to us,” he said.
During an online press conference Friday morning, the City & Borough of Juneau’s new Avalanche Advisor John Bressette said that many small slides reduce the hazard by decreasing the amount of snow that could be released in a larger slide.
“So it’s actually a good thing that we’re seeing smaller slides reducing the total snow load that is capable of producing an avalanche,” Bressette said.
Some avalanches released above the Flume Trail today. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities confirmed numerous small avalanches along Thane Road this morning. The agency expects more avalanches this evening since the forecast shows continued heavy rainfall, strong winds and warming temperatures. The closure of Thane Road could be extended multiple days.
Some residents of the Behrends neighborhood have evacuated to friends’ houses or Centennial Hall, the official shelter set up by the city and the American Red Cross.
Carlos Cadiente lives kitty-corner from Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé in the Behrends slide path. He evacuated at around 11:30 a.m. in one vehicle while his wife drove behind in another. At a stop sign, he told KTOO they were headed to a friend’s house just down the street.
“We already had a go bag going and we already had the cars loaded up and ready to roll, and so we’re rolling,” Cadiente said.
He said this is the first time they’ve heeded an avalanche evacuation advisory in the decades they’ve lived here.
“It’s kind of an extreme measure, you know, extreme weather that we’ve had,” he said. “So we’re just kind of trying to be proactive and not be a problem,” he said.
Britt Tonnessen is the community disaster program manager for the Red Cross of Alaska in Southeast. In coordination with the city, the Red Cross set up an emergency shelter at Centennial Hall downtown for residents on Friday.
At the shelter on Friday morning, she said the Red Cross has been preparing for the last week in case of an evacuation.
“We’ve seen multiple fatal landslides and avalanches in the past decade,” she said. “Evacuating to a congregate shelter is not people’s dream idea. It’s a safe place to go. We do the best to meet the needs and we have incredible, loving, warm volunteers to meet people.”
Tonnessen said that anyone from avalanche zones, as well as those who feel the load on their roof is becoming too heavy, are welcome at the shelter.
She said they are prepared to take 150 people, and around 30 people signed in by the early afternoon.
Avalanche, weather and road conditions are expected to worsen this evening.
KTOO reporter Clarise Larson contributed to this report.
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